Awesome on ice…*

Always some new old magic…I had NO IDEA these whelpings existed!

Today’s word of the day from Visual Thesaurus is “theurgy.”

As If By Magic Word of the Day: theurgy

If you’re wearing your Greek etymology hat you might suspect a god lurking here, and you’re right: theurgy is magic performed with the help of one (or more). Bonus points today for two other more common English words ending in -urgy that denote a kind of skill or craft (in both cases, a slightly more mundane skill than magic).

Considering Harry Potter needed Ron and Hermione as much as he needed his wand, (if not more so), they practiced theurgy on many occasions: a fancy Greek word for ‘magical teamwork.’ We can’t do everything alone, and we can’t do everything together. We bounce around like atoms, paradoxically touching/not touching. Shifting from summer to autumn is one of my most hopeful times of the year. Please remind me of this in the deepest depths of northern darkness, around the winter solstice, when I suppress the urge to set the house on fire just to remind the sun to come back. I love this time of year–I leave Azeroth a bit more, remind myself of other forms of stories and ideas, and harvest new ideas. I had planned on doing a lot of writing this summer, but instead I did none. I don’t have a reason or explanation, no rationalization or justification. I just didn’t. I don’t want to label it, analyze it, or deal with it. I just didn’t. I appreciate that others continue to harness the power of the ‘Azerothian Writers‘ and keep us moving forward. Thanks also to Erinys for this post with careful circumnavigation of spoilers. I think the thing is — (and here I said I wasn’t going to analyze) –I often don’t write simply because I feel it’s all been said before by far more interesting people. And then…and then I will listen to a This American Life episode, hear a story about a “normal” person, and be completely in awe.

I HUGELY annoyed CD Rogue last night when after raiding, and by and large ignoring him, I asked him that he should ask me about my day once in awhile. Why do I start these conversations at 10:30 at night? /swears We can’t fit it all in, I suppose. He just doesn’t want to hear my stories, presented on my metaphorical stage when I interrupt his important routine. I get it. PlaidElf and I were chatting, and talking about paladin tanking – she said “So much of our awesome has cool downs.” * Ain’t that the truth, sister? We all need cool down time.

So join me, fellow Azerothians – listen to something different, read something new, think about something other than Azeroth for a little while.

Here are some I highly recommend:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/492/dr-gilmer-and-mr-hyde

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/532/magic-words

Death by Murlocs…OLRG Rides Again, and Mrs. Whitworth Has Regrets

This was your plan all along, wasn’t it, Mr. Snerguls?

 

Have you been playing Hearthstone lately? I have. Yes. Yes I have. And I wanted to warn you of a disturbing trend: in the past 24-hours or so I have had my tail handed to me by decks stacked with murloc cards. It doesn’t matter the class: priest, warrior, shaman: all have trounced me within the first few moves with their clever plays of Old Murkeye and Murloc Warriors, and scouts and such. And I mean TROUNCED. Gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em? Did you know playing cards with Kenny Rogers gets old, fast? So does playing with decks stacked with murlocs.

These murloc cards are incredibly overpowered:

No.

I am tempted to start a heavy-handed murloc deck myself, just to see. But it seems somehow…Cheaty McCheaty Pants. One thing I love about Hearthstone is its true nature to the class of the deck: oh sure, the neutral cards round out otherwise thin premises of decks. But what makes each class enjoyable to play is their very nature: polymorphing with a mage, or enraged brawls with warriors, doubling health with priests, and using lightning bolt lightning bolt with shamans. Here is my proposal: if murlocs are going to take over the world of Hearthstone, then perhaps they deserve their own deck? Hmmm? Would you like that, Mr. Snerguls? Or is this your plan all along, to take over Azeroth one small, slimy fin at a time until your girth takes over? I have always smirked at the foot soldiers in Elwynn Forest whose untimely death by murlocs is not only fishy but gruesome. All we heroes find is a pile of meat and bones. I tried to find an image of said meat and bones, but all I could find was this:

Fish Tacos are Delicious

 

This served to underscore my suspicions further. Carnivorous murlocs setting up a taquería in Elwynn Forest? Perhaps if they are making chipotle-lime sauce ones, but still, not sure I could get the image of stupid foot soldiers who can’t even handle a few frog people out of the taste…

Fish Tacos….mmmmmmmm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OLRG: There are no words.

If nothing stops these ladies, nothing will stop us!

And on a completely unrelated note–I confessed to Tome a few weeks ago one reason I was having trouble with Mrs. Whitworth is the addition of a kitten in her life. It doesn’t fit. What was I thinking? And then I saw this image:

BRING ME MINIONS, NOT KITTENS!

So I’m not sure where Mrs. W stands, narrative-wise. We may never hear from her again. She was working for the Supreme Court making a case, but sadly her 30-page dissent went unheeded. Much like a delicious blueberry pie I baked in 1989, a blueberry pie so perfect, so exquisite, its like was never to be baked again, I haven’t baked one since. One-hit wonder, as it were. In the meantime, I have long summer days ahead of me, and many scraps and story-starts to organize. I recently purchased a program called Scrivener and it’s pretty fancy-schmancy.

As far as Momokawa and the Staff of Unattainable Perfection of Fiery Kitty from Fandral is concerned, be careful, Señor Fandral: I may leave a box of adorable kittens on your doorstep and see how that brings you to your knees. Give me the staff, punk. Or I’ll make fish tacos out of you.

Tiny Poetry Time: The Wall

 

 

 

 

Do you think I’m pretty?

I asked the Wall

A great gearing creak of stone and oil took in a breath

rebar skeleton shifted fanged mouth sliding open to reply

And answered

silent

Do you love me? 

I asked the Wall

rusty streak eyes carved art groves of pear tree tears open to see

And envisioned

blind

Do you hear me? 

I asked the Wall

drumming vibrato earth shaking quake friction pitch perfect to hear

And listened

deaf

I left a copper in the relief:

and went through the gate

 

 

Creative procrastination

CD Rogue sent me this link the other day regarding a new game called Black Desert. The character customization is insanely specific, down to the last eyelash. This week I wanted so many projects to come to pass, and now it’s Thursday, and while I have a long 12 hours ahead of me, I feel I need to double-it and circle back. This is one of those moments to make a retro list – make a list of things I’ve done just to cross them off again. In any case, if I am quiet today in Azeroth it’s because I am working off scene, too. My characters for My Role Play WILL get done today, as well as other projects, too.

Good character creation ideas:

https://www.tumblr.com/fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment/50825149893/character-sheets-and-character-creation

http://www.elfwood.com/farp/thewriting/mfocharacter/mfocharacter.html